Hafiz Saeed, the Pakistani militant leader, has made a strange offer to aid the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

Strange because the U.S. earlier this year offered $10 million for information leading to Mr. Saeed’s arrest due to his alleged involvement in terrorist attacks, including one on Mumbai, India, in 2008 that left over 160 people dead.

“Regardless of what US govt. propogates about us including their announcement of bounties, we look forward to act on the traits of our Prophet Muhammad SAW by helping and serving adversity struck American people,” Mr. Saeed said in a statement posted on the Facebook page of Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a hard-line Islamic organization founded by Mr. Saeed.

So, what could Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a religious group the U.S. and United Nations considers a terrorist organization, offer the U.S.?

“If US government allow we will send our doctors, relief and rescue experts, food and medicine on humanitarian grounds,” the statement said.

Jamaat-ud-Dawah played an active role in offering flood relief in Pakistan in 2010, setting up field hospitals and distributing supplies at the same time as the U.S. was flying multiple plane and helicopter sorties to deliver aid to the victims.

Against this backdrop, Mr. Saeed’s offer can be viewed as making the point that if the U.S. acts in Pakistan, it too should be allowed to act in the U.S. It also can be viewed as a publicity stunt to poke his antagonists, akin to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offering to send aid, including food and mobile hospitals to the U.S. in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Mr. Saeed’s statement contains language about how Islam demands action of its followers when “humanity is at stake.” That may be true. But given that Mr. Saeed has also recently called for religious war against the U.S., this statement sends mixed messages to say the least.

The U.S. considers Jamaat-ud-Dawah a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani-based militant group alleged by the U.S., India and other countries to have carried out the Mumbai attacks.

Mr. Saeed was one of the founders of Lashkar-e-Taiba, originally formed to fight Indian soldiers in Kashmir, a region over which India and Pakistan have fought two wars.

Pakistan banned the group in 2002 after India blamed it for carrying out a bloody gun attack on its parliament in New Delhi. But it has been slow to go after Mr. Saeed, who now leads Jamaat-ud-Dawah and denies any links to terrorism.

Jamaat-ud-Dawah officials, who claim the group is an Islamic charity, also deny ties to militant groups.

The U.S. designated Lashkar-e-Taiba as a foreign terrorist organization more than a decade ago. In April 2008, it extended the same designation to Jamaat-ud-Dawa.

Pakistan in the past has committed to keeping Mr. Saeed under house arrest, but he has continued to address public rallies of Islamists in Pakistan this year, which often feature retired Pakistani intelligence operatives.

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